Sorry to My Creams and Balms—Disco Blush Is What I'll Be Wearing for the Foreseeable Future

As much as I love a twinkling eye shadow moment, I typically skip the shimmer in my blushes and bronzers. You see, unless you have the sweat glands of an extraterrestrial being, it's unlikely that your cheekbones naturally glitter when they catch the light. Non-shimmery pigments (e.g., a sheer cream blush) tend to look way more realistic for an everyday flush—as if I just so happened to go for a brisk, blood-pumping jog.

But leave it to Carolina Gonzalez to convince me to embrace all things glitz and glamour! The iconic makeup artist recently taught me how to rock "disco blush," and I've been favoring it over my regular creams and balms ever since, whether I'm trouser-clad in the office or dressed to the nines for a special event. What can I say? A little sparkle just makes you feel something.

What Is Disco Blush?

Disco blush (a term coined by my fellow beauty editor Alyssa Brascia) essentially refers to a radiant, shimmery blush—anything that makes your cheekbones glisten. Simply take your usual flush of color and combine it with a pearly or golden highlighter, and you'll resemble a spinning mirrorball in about six seconds flat. You don't even have to go too heavy on the sparkle; just a touch will make you look positively radiant. Take it from Gonzalez, who cocktailed Armani Beauty's Acqua Highlighter in Dawn with the Cheek Tint in Rosy Peach to create a custom, dazzling disco-inspired shade for me back in July.

Of course, this technique works best if you have two liquid or cream formulas you can easily blend, but if you don't feel like playing mixologist (fair), you could also find a blush-highlighter hybrid that simultaneously delivers a healthy flush and draws attention to the high points of your face. These richly pigmented shimmers are more popular than ever, as you can also apply them on your lids and lips (collarbones too, if you dare). As celebrity makeup artist Buster Knight once told WWW about these duos, "[They] are more fashionable at the moment than using a separate highlighter." Plus, you can source them in pretty much any makeup format: cream, liquid, powder, et al.

How Do You Apply Disco Blush?

It's a fair question, considering "disco blush" technically falls in the blush and highlighter categories. Do you tap it on the apples of your cheeks, like a blush? Or do you glaze it toward your temples, like a highlighter?

I'd personally go the latter route, especially if you're gunning for a snatched look (makeup artists often sweep blush in an upward motion to create a lifted effect). If you can't fathom the thought of leaving the apples of your cheeks untouched, you can apply a bit of pigment there too for a fresh bloom of color; just focus more product on the higher points of your cheekbones after the fact. You could also reach for a blush topper—like Patrick Ta Major Glow Crème Powder Light Reflecting Highlighter in the shade Baby—if you're craving an extra-pearly aesthetic. Layer it on your blush du jour, and the pink shimmer will instantly enhance any rosy hue you choose.

Matte, soft-focus looks tend to reign supreme as the weather turns crisper, but watch this space: I expect a wave of glitzy blush looks come fall. This year's autumn color story is looking far brighter than year's past (bye, minimalism!), so it makes total sense that insiders would crave flashy cheekbones that shine like a glitter ball. Scroll ahead to shop the disco blushes I'll be wearing for the foreseeable future—a few liquids, some powders, all with look-at-me sparkle.

The Best Disco Blushes to Shop